India to play four warm-up matches ahead of T20 World Cup - watch live

The Indian cricket team is slated to play four warm-up matches prior to its ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, which starts in Australia from October 16. India will play two practice matches against Western Australia XI before taking on Australia and New Zealand in the lead up to the upcoming WorldT20.

India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their first group-stage match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

The Rohit Sharma-led side departed for Australia shortly after the conclusion of the T20I series against South Africa. The team is undergoing a training camp in Perth following which they will play Western Australia XI twice in four days. The first match will be played on October 10.

Post two games in Perth, The Rahul Dravid-coached side will travel to Brisbane where they are scheduled to play against Australia and New Zealand on the 17th and 19th of October, respectively.

Talking about the squad, the Indian Team have had some injury concerns in the bowling department leading up to the World Cup. Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was expected to spearhead the bowling attack, has been ruled out due to injury. There’s also uncertainty surrounding his potential replacements Mohammad Shami and Deepak Chahar, who have been facing fitness issues of late.

On a brighter side, India, the No.1 T20I side in the world currently, have been in terrific form in the build-up to the World Cup. They have won seven of their last eight bilateral series in the shortest format, with a 2-2 draw against South Africa in July earlier this year being the only exception.

Even though Team India had a disappointing Asia Cup 2022 campaign, they bounced back with back-to-back T20I series wins against Australia and South Africa. The batters have been in amazing form, especially Suryakumar Yadav, who is the leading run-getter in T20Is this year.

Nonetheless, India will be aiming to clinch the World T20 title for the first time since winning the inaugural edition in 2007. The four warm-up games, hence, will be essential for the team to acclimatise themselves to Australian conditions before the showpiece event gets underway.

India squad for the T20 World Cup

Main Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Standby players: Mohammad Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar

India's warm up matches in T20 World Cup: Schedule and live match times

All times are in Indian Standard Time (IST).

Where to watch India's ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up matches live in India?

India's ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up matches against Australia and New Zealand will be telecast live on the Star Sports network and their respective HD TV channels in India.

Live streaming of India's warm up matches in T20 World Cup 2022 will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.

However, there won’t be any live telecast or streaming of the first two warm-up matches against Western Australia XI.

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Featured photo: Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP